I Hate Politics Podcast

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I Hate the News Jun 17 Jun 17, 2025

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Maryland's first bond issue following Moody's downgrade of state debt has surprising results. Former Washington DC councilmember and director of the DC Department of Energy and Environment, gets into the fight to claw back the environmental spending cuts proposed by Mayor Bowser. MCPS has new grading regulations and the Student member of the Board of Education is not happy. And more. Music by Washington Dc art-pop rock band, Catscan!

NIH Scientists Demand Bhattacharya Defend Agency Jun 13, 2025

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After weeks of protests over firings, grant freezes, and budget cuts, more than 300 scientists and staff from Maryland-based National Institutes of Health issue a public letter of protest called the Bethesda Declaration fashioned after the Great Barrington Declaration, which was co-authored in 2020 as an act of dissent from the scientific orthodoxy on Covid by their current Trump-appointed director Jay Bhattacharya. Sunil Dasgupta talks with three signatories to the letter, NIH staffers Mollie Manier and Ian Morgan, and former staffer Anna Culbertson about the public statement and the relationship between science and politics. Bethesda Declaration: https://www.standupforscience.net/bethesda-declaration The Great Barrington Declaration: https://gbdeclaration.org/ Music by Silver Spring power pop band, The Airport77s.

I Hate the News Jun 10 Jun 10, 2025

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A new case of religious liberty against MCPS follows the LGBTQ books case already in the Supreme Court. DC Council pauses Initiative 82, a ballot referendum which tried to equalize minimum wage for tipped and non-tipped workers. A tort case in Maryland brings up the persistence of contributory negligence doctrine in a handful of states in the DC region. Prince George's County holds special elections and we revisit voter turnout issues. And more. Music by Washington Dc art-pop rock band, Catscan!

Can Gaithersburg Regulate HOAs and Condos Better than Montgomery County? Jun 06, 2025

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HOAs and Condo associations have grown to be a big part of the American housing landscape over the last 50 years. In 2025, the Maryland general assembly passed a new law requiring independent third-party elections of HOA/condo boards and the City of Gaithersburg left Montgomery County's Commission on Common Ownership Communities. Sunil Dasgupta talks with Gaithersburg councilmembers Neil Harris and Yamil Hernandez, themselves experienced HOA officials, about how they are thinking of a new regulatory regime. Music by Silver Spring power pop band, The Airport77s.

I Hate the News Jun 3 Jun 03, 2025

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Mayor Muriel Bowser in Washington DC offers a budget proposal with cuts and regulatory changes. MCPS has released boundary change options as it plans opening new high schools. Complaints about air quality in Argyle Middle School. MD Public Service Commission asks Baltimore Gas and Electric and Delmarva Power to spread out coming rate increases, watch your electricity bills. A lawsuit challenges closed primaries in the state of Maryland. And more. Music by Washington Dc art-pop rock band, Catscan!

A Second Shot, A True Crime Episode May 30, 2025

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On October 23, 1971, Deputy Sheriff James T. Hall was killed in the parking lot of Manor Country Club, the center of a wealthy golf course community between the city of Rockville and Olney, MD. The case remained unsolved for 50 years, until 2021, when cold case detectives finally took another look at the urging of Hall's daughter, Carolyn Philo, who had long moved to Dallas, Texas, where she told the story of her father's murder to her doctor, Michael Weisberg, a moonlighting crime writer. As cold case detectives pursued neglected leads, Weisberg began writing the book. Weisberg joined Sunil Dasgupta to talk about the recently-published book, A Second Shot: https://a.co/d/duIqQyx. Music by Silver Spring power pop band, The Airport77s.

I Hate the News May 27 May 27, 2025

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Federal employee rights will change in the Trump-backed budget legislation "One Big Beautiful Bill." Will budget-busting drugs like Jardiance and Farxiga soon cost less in Maryland? A new law sets up a mechanism. The state is fixing to charge for viewing land records and the Maryland State Bar and title attorneys are not happy. In Frederick County, MD, a fake mooning incident at a school board meeting. We have the audio, which may be more incendiary than the video. And more. Music by Arlington-based experimental music composer Pierre Bernasconi.

Governor Moore's Vetoes Move Him to the Middle as Reelection Looms May 23, 2025

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Last week Maryland Governor Wes Moore vetoed a reparations study bill and three environment bills despite their low budget impact, angering some of his closest allies: the General Assembly's Black Caucus and the region's environmental groups. Sunil Dasgupta talks with Maryland Senator Charles Sydnor, regional environment leader Mike Tidwell, and bike and pedestrian safety advocate Seth Grimes, about the politics. Music by Frederick, MD,- based country-folk singer-songwriter Susanna Laird.

I Hate the News May 20 May 20, 2025

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Montgomery County Council President Kate Stewart explains final budget tradeoffs as vote arrives this week. New data analysis shows a disproportionate increase in staff positions in the county and in the school district. A survey of regional homelessness shows little change except in Montgomery County. The National Park Service proposes ending the morning and afternoon reversible lanes on Rock Creek Parkway. In small town Maryland, New Market and Woodsboro, stories of political contestation. And more. Music by Arlington-based experimental music composer Pierre Bernasconi.

What AMZN HQ2 Search Tells Us About Government Transparency May 16, 2025

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There is a long tradition in political philosophy where democracy and transparency are equated. A new article in the Policy Studies Journal, by UMBC colleagues UMBC's Eric Stokan, Ian Anson, University of Texas Austin's Nathan Jensen studied the impact of government transparency on Amazon's search for its second headquarters to find surprising conclusions: https://doi.org/10.1111/psj.70016. Sunil Dasgupta talks with lead author Eric Stokan. Music by Frederick, MD,- based country-folk singer-songwriter Susanna Laird.

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